Hawaii Insurance Continuing Education

Resident Requirements

In order to renew your insurance license, you must fulfill Hawaii?s continuing education requirements. During the two years prior to renewal, any agent not exempt must complete the required 24 hours of continuing education.

If you are licensed only in life/accident and health or only in property/casualty insurance, you must complete:

• 21 hours of CE in the respective class of insurance
• Three hours of CE in either ethics or Hawaii?s insurance laws and rules

If you are licensed in both life/accident and health and property/casualty insurance, you must complete:

• 10 hours of CE related to life/accident and health insurance
• 11 hours of CE related to property/casualty insurance
• Three hours of CE in either ethics or Hawaii?s insurance laws and rules

In order to fulfill these requirements, you may take courses in either ethics or Hawaii?s laws and rules concerning insurance. If you take both, or otherwise manage to accumulate more than three hours in one of the subjects, the excess hours can be applied to your class-specific CE credit hours, so long as they are for the appropriate line of insurance.

If you hold licenses in both classes of insurance, you may not take the same course twice. 

Rules for Non-Residents

Non-residents who satisfy the CE requirements of their home states will be deemed to have satisfied Hawaii CE requirements, provided that their home states reciprocate with respect to Hawaii residents.

Carryover of Excess CE

You cannot apply hours earned in one licensing period to the following period. Any additional education should be taken solely for personal advantage.

Insurance License Term Renewal Requirements

Licenses last two years and expire on the 16th day of the licensee?s birth month. 

The two-year term is based on the anniversary of the original license. If licensed during an even-numbered year, you will have to renew it in the next even-numbered year. If licensed during an odd-numbered year, you will have to renew it in the next odd-numbered year.

You may renew online so long as you have finished your CE credit hours and are within 60 days of the license?s expiration. The renewal fee is $100.

If you fail to renew on time or to complete your continuing education before the license expires, your license will be placed on inactive status. In order to reactivate the license, you will have to pay an associated penalty in addition to submitting proof of compliance with the requirements and paying the original fee.

If you need an extension for your continuing education requirements, you may submit a written request and explanation to the Insurance Commissioner. The request is due at least 90 days prior to the license?s expiration date. In order to receive the extension, the licensee must either be on active military duty or demonstrate other good cause for granting it.

Rules for Taking the Exam

In order to pass each CE course, you must pass a proctored final exam. You may take the final exam as many times as you like without penalty.

The exam is a closed-book exam, meaning that you may not use outside resources while the exam is in progress. An impartial proctor must be present to ensure your compliance with this regulation. The proctor may not be a friend, co-worker, relative, or person who has a financial interest in the exam result.

Rules for Repeating a Course

Within any two-year period, you may take a CE course for credit only once. You may not repeat the course for credit even if applying it to different classes of insurance.

Credit for Instructors

As determined and approved by the Commissioner, instructors may receive equivalent continuing education hours for the courses they teach.

Reporting Rules

After you successfully complete the course, the course provider will issue you a certificate of completion. The course provider will also send this information to the Insurance Division on your behalf.

You can view your current number of completed course hours, using the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs CE Course Verification tool. You will need your entity identification number and the last four digits of your social security number.

While the course provider will provide the Insurance Division with your information, you must hold on to your certificate of completion and any other records for four years. In the event of a discrepancy, the Insurance Division will reconcile its records with both yours and those of the course provider. 

Insurance CE Requirements Exemptions

Any non-resident who can supply proof of having fulfilled the CE requirements of their home state will be exempt from Hawaii insurance continuing education requirements, as long as that state affords Hawaii residents reciprocal consideration.

At their discretion and upon receiving a written request demonstrating good cause, the Commissioner can waive any requirement to the laws and rules for insurance applicants and producers.

If you are a new licensee and have held your license for less than two years at the time of the license?s expiration, you are exempt from the continuing education requirements for that first renewal. For all subsequent renewals, you will be subject to regular Hawaii CE requirements.

Annuity Requirements

Any insurance producer who is authorized to sell life insurance must take a one-time, four-hour annuity best interest course. Agents may not sell, solicit, or negotiate an annuity product until after they have completed this course.

For both residents and non-residents, the Insurance Division will accept the completion of a substantially similar annuity course administered in a different state.

Long-Term Care Training Requirements

At this time, there are no special training requirements relating to long-term care insurance in the state of Hawaii.

Flood Insurance

Before you can start selling flood insurance products through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), you must complete a one-time training course for three hours, developed by FEMA or state-approved CE providers.